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4.49 AVERAGE
4.49 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Fantastic easily-digestible historical timeline of the onslaught of HIV in North America. The author documents the multi-faceted failures in the early discovery of the virus that led to the spread, and the nuance behind public health.
informative
slow-paced
I haven't stopped talking about this book since I started reading it. It's a remarkable journalistic achievement: clear-eyed, rigorous, comprehensive and moving. Randy Shilts had a masterful command of narrative, weaving over a thousand interviews into a narrative that is easy to understand (even as I actually gasped out loud at some moments because of the injustices and decisions that were made), pacy, and brings together politics, science and human stories from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and global stories as well.
I picked this book up to educate myself about AIDS as part of research reading for a novel I want to write, partially set in 1984 in New York. I truly think it has changed my life. Rest in peace Randy Shilts, and all the estimated 44.1 million people who have lost their lives to AIDS so far. And to all the people who will still lose their lives because of USAID cuts, because people in power are still embarrassed by AIDS and do not care about the people who die from preventable disease.
I picked this book up to educate myself about AIDS as part of research reading for a novel I want to write, partially set in 1984 in New York. I truly think it has changed my life. Rest in peace Randy Shilts, and all the estimated 44.1 million people who have lost their lives to AIDS so far. And to all the people who will still lose their lives because of USAID cuts, because people in power are still embarrassed by AIDS and do not care about the people who die from preventable disease.
Like reading a thriller/murder mystery where you know the final outcome while the protagonists are going through it. It often made me want to yell out into the book “look behind you!” So many frustrating moments throughout, this book was engaging, fascinating, terribly upsetting, and heartbreaking. Such a thorough run down of the early history of HIV/AIDS written right in the thick of it, in 1987. Details the lived experience, the medical faltering and slow advancements, and the local and national and sometimes international politics regarding the disease, all in such an engaging way. But, I cried a lot, be warned. 1 star deducted for the devastatingly regretful, but I presume not malicious, patient 0 perpetuation, which I only learnt about when I was halfway through the book.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Wow, such a detailed accounting of the first 8 years or so of the AIDS epidemic. Really quite sad that our country didn't respond sooner....I wish I could read a so-called "part II" talking about AIDS from 1987-present day.
This really should be required reading for anyone looking to understand how the American government can manage to handle an epidemic so disastrously (spoiler alert: not much has changed in 40 years). Also should be required for anyone interested in lgbtq history as I can’t think of many other books that do such a thorough job at highlighting the unconscionable bigotry and dehumanization of the gay community.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced